Cirque du Soleil’s ALIZÉ Comes To Life With Brompton Technology And Theatrixx

Brompton Technology's Tessera LED video processors are bringing magical illusions to life in ALIZÉ, Cirque du Soleil's 54th production and first ever European residency show, now running at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. The production showcases how Theatrixx LED screens, powered by Brompton’s advanced LED processing and integrated by Solotech, transform a theatrical space into an immersive environment where acrobatics and illusion blend seamlessly.

ALIZÉ, presented under the theme of Acromagic, features 43 artists from 21 countries in a visually stunning production that makes the audience part of the experience. To bring ALIZÉ’s illusions to life, the production required exceptional color accuracy, which placed important emphasis on choosing the right LED set up. At the heart of this technical achievement is a sophisticated LED system powered by five Brompton 4K Tessera SX40 processors, controlling almost 250m² (952 panels) of Theatrixx xVision Nomad 2.6mm TPEP® (Titanium Polymer Edge Protection) LED screens.

The project represents Theatrixx Technologies' largest European theatrical integration to date and highlights the deepening collaboration between Theatrixx and Brompton, recently formalized with Theatrixx becoming a Blue Partner within Brompton’s Panel Manufacturer Partner Programme. This recognition is awarded to manufacturers who share Brompton's values of engineering excellence and uncompromising performance.

“Although ALIZÉ is our first large-scale LED integration with Cirque du Soleil, Theatrixx has a longstanding history of supplying Cirque and its technical partners with our designed and manufactured products through various trade channels over many years,” explains Kris Hill, Sales Manager EMEA at Theatrixx. “Our main distribution systems were, in fact, one of the first Theatrixx product lines widely adopted by Cirque's production teams and partner integrators. These units have been used across multiple shows globally and helped establish the trust and familiarity that later made deeper collaboration, such as ALIZÉ, possible.”

Theatrixx's direct involvement on ALIZÉ began when John Thurston, Lead Systems Manager at Cirque du Soleil, contacted Theatrixx's Montreal headquarters regarding LED solutions for the Berlin residency. Given the European location and Thurston's UK background, the enquiry was routed to Hill in EMEA. Following initial discussions, Hill was introduced to Anthony Bezençon, Director at VYV, Cirque's long-standing media systems partner.

“We met at Brompton Technology's London facility to evaluate Nomad TPEP against the very specific optical and creative requirements of the show,” notes Hill. “Further workshops were held with Cirque, VYV, Brompton, and Solotech at our St-Bruno facility, and we have been supporting the project since December 2024.”

The combined performance attributes of Nomad TPEP® with Brompton Tessera processing offered capabilities not found elsewhere in the market. “Nomad 2.6 TPEP was selected specifically for its shader-free optical design, high-performance diodes, tight color tolerances, and resilience,” Hill explains. “A decisive factor in Cirque du Soleil's selection was the TPEP, Theatrixx's proprietary LED module design. Unlike traditional LED panels, TPEP eliminates the need for a plastic mask or shaders. This shader-free design provides exceptional viewing angles with little to no color shift off-axis, while delivering outstanding visual clarity.”

Running a custom resolution of 2688 by 2688 pixels at 50 Hz, RGB444, 10-bit HDR, the system uses intricate custom mapping across LED walls using only five LED processors. The complexity of ALIZÉ extends beyond color science into the physical mechanics of the production, with the Tessera processors being housed in a room offstage on the fifth floor, connected via multi-strand LC single-mode fibre to custom conversion boxes near the LED walls.

Several Tessera software features proved critical to achieving the show's visual goals. “Hydra Calibration delivers uniformity and accuracy across the full LED installation,” notes Hill. “ShutterSync® ensures perfect timing between LED output and PHOTON playback. PureTone® and OSCA allowed precise tonal and color matching with True HDR and extended bit-depth. These capabilities significantly strengthened color accuracy and on-stage visual coherence.”

Brompton's involvement extended far beyond simply supplying processors. “Brompton provided exceptional support throughout,” Hill emphasises. “Their team participated in the London evaluation, the St-Bruno calibration workshop, and final technical setup. Their contribution to color science and LUT creation was invaluable and directly influenced the final aesthetic for ALIZÉ.”

Custom LUT workflows became a crucial element of the production's success. Brompton's Thomas Peters worked directly with Angel Banchs, Lead Color Engineer from Red Rock Ops, to generate show-specific LUTs, collaborating closely with film-industry colorists and the Cirque team to create 3D LUT files and OSCA profiles specifically for ALIZÉ.

“Brompton introduced me to Theatrixx to help them achieve the highest-quality colour for ALIZÉ,” explains Banchs. “Our task was to work alongside the Cirque team to deliver the required level of color accuracy and dynamic range using the Theatrixx Nomad LED tiles with Brompton Tessera processors. The SX40 is capable of operating in an HDR environment and using PQ gamma, which allowed us to unlock the full dynamic range potential of the display system.”

The collaboration required sophisticated measurement and verification. “We used CalMAN Ultimate, the Klein K10-A, the Colorimetry Research CR-250, and the Nobe OmniScope to confirm that the system matched the specifications defined in the white paper supplied by Cirque,” Banchs notes. “These tools allowed us to demonstrate that Theatrixx Nomad, combined with Tessera SX40, not only met the required specification but also exceeded it.”

One of the most essential tools in the workflow was Pomfort LiveGrade Studio, which works seamlessly with the Brompton 3D LUT capability. “We were able to select individual colors and adjust them precisely,” Banchs explains. “Together, these tools allowed us to build the demanding, yet necessary color workflow needed to meet the creative expectations of Cirque du Soleil.”

Each of the 952 panels is equipped with a Brompton R2+ receiver card, while Tessera XD 10G data distribution units (two active and two redundant per processor) provide redundancy protection throughout the signal path.

“Our client specifically requested that we use the Brompton system. We were very pleased with this choice, as Brompton is what we use for all our newer LED products purchased over the last five years,” says Jonathan Couillard, Senior Video System Designer at Solotech, the appointed system integrator for ALIZÉ. “We have tested many other infrastructures in the past, and Brompton has proven to be the most rugged, touring-friendly, and versatile system we've found.

“One of the most impressive functions of the receiver card is the OSCA (On-Screen Colour Adjustment) tool, which provides real-time visual control for colour and intensity adjustments through a very intuitive GUI. This capability almost eliminates the need to work exclusively with matching batches of LED panels, as we can now fine-tune each wall on the spot to match others, even when their physical pixels do not emit the same native white.”

The development process involved extensive collaboration. “Cirque wanted to test out the LED, and we quickly saw that we needed very powerful processing to be able to achieve what they were looking for,” explains Hugo Tardif, Solotech’s Senior Project Manager. “We turned to Brompton because of our own experience with other big live production projects. The LED and processing worked perfectly from the get-go. No issues on the processing side; the redundancy, everything that we put together, everything that we asked this technology to do, it did.”

The LED panels are driven at nearly 100% intensity to provide the required brightness for special effects and perfect contrast, with all content created on-site based on these settings.

“As we began reviewing the content created by the Cirque team and watched it come to life in our prototype setup at the Theatrixx facility, we all had moments of genuine awe,” reflects Banchs. “It became clear that the system designed for ALIZÉ represents the future of live performance shows and what is possible when modern LED, processing, and colour workflows converge at the highest level.”

For both Theatrixx and Brompton, the success of ALIZÉ demonstrates the reliability and performance that long-term theatrical productions demand. “Brompton is widely regarded as the best-in-class global benchmark for color accuracy, consistency, and processing stability,” Hill emphasizes. “For a show of this scale and illusion-driven complexity, Brompton ensures dependable nightly performance, consistent pixel-accurate color reproduction, robust redundancy and failover, and total stability for the operators and cast.

The production marks a major international milestone for the collaboration between Theatrixx and Brompton Technology, proving that advanced LED processing can enable entirely new forms of theatrical storytelling.

“Anyone who attends the ALIZÉ show in Berlin will see the seamless integration of advanced technical artistry with the acrobatic excellence that defines Cirque du Soleil,” concludes Patrick Goodden, Technical Sales Manager (UK and Ireland) at Brompton Technology. “The scale and complexity of this production reflect an exceptional collaborative effort, and we are deeply honoured that our LED processing forms part of a show that sets a new benchmark for theatrical spectacle.”

Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Forker/Cirque du Soleil 2025

‍